


We Think (Too Much) Alike

by TsaritsaElena



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Guilt, Happy Ending, Jumping to the wrong conclusions, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 13:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsaritsaElena/pseuds/TsaritsaElena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when Steve and Tony have made known their feelings for each other, they are called away on an important Avengers mission. Whether their tenuous relationship will hold, or be destroyed by misunderstandings in the mission’s aftermath remains to be seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Think (Too Much) Alike

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Winterstar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterstar/gifts).



> **For[Winterstar](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterstar).** Happy Holidays, and may the New Year bring you only good health after the long journey you’ve been on!
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of these characters or copyrighted material, and I’m certainly not making any money or other material profit off of this fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended.

“—and then I told Rhodey to call it a training exercise!” Tony said with a laugh. “And oh boy, you should have seen me the first time I tried getting out of the suit!” 

Steve only half-listened to what Tony was telling him, the other half of his attention on Tony himself. He watched with fondness as Tony gesticulated wildly with his hands, mouth running a mile a minute as he regaled Steve with another story. Tony was a good at that, entertaining him with tales of Iron Man and ordinary life and being sarcastic and infuriating and funny and Steve loved it about Tony. Of course, Tony could have said the same thing about Steve, though he’d have denied it vehemently.

Looking back on it, Steve was glad he’d taken up Tony’s offer to live in the Tower, to live with all of the Avengers and really make the team work. It hadn’t always been easy, and he and Tony certainly had their fair share of fights and arguments in the beginning—they still did, if he was being honest—but animosity had turned to grudging respect had turned into tentative friendship had turned into, well... this, whatever _this_ was.

For a while now, Steve felt like they’d been heading toward something more than friends. About a month ago, after the latest round of tabloids claimed that Tony had slept with a Hollywood actor, who was very much male, Tony had made it known to Steve that while it wasn’t true, he _had_ hooked up with men in the past. He’d looked straight into Steve’s eyes, cocked his hands on his hips and said with a sneer, “Does that offend your 1940s sensibilities, Cap?”

Steve hadn’t known whether or not to be hurt by Tony’s words. He _was_ alarmed and sad that Tony would think that he would _condemn_ Tony for such a thing. He could have just said “no” honestly, and let it be, but in the end, he went the more personal route, confessing plainly, “No, of course not. I’d be a hypocrite if I said yes. You’re not the only one who plays for both teams.” Tony had relaxed, and that had been that.

Steve still wasn’t sure why they hadn’t taken things further, or really, why _he_ hadn’t taken things further. For the past few weeks he’d been turning the question over in his mind, wondering and worrying if Tony saw him that way, or if Tony just wanted to leave what they had as friends. There’d certainly been enough banter between then, but Steve couldn’t always rely on cues from Tony to tell him one way or the other, since the man flirted with pretty much everyone he came across.

“—and then I told Pepper, ‘Let’s face it. This is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing!’” Tony laughed again and it was clear he was supposed to laugh at this part, too, because Tony gave him a funny look and asked, “You alright, Steve?”

“Yeah,” Steve shook himself out of his trance. “Yeah. Just thinking.”

“Huh. Really? Because it _looked_ like you were staring. At me,” Tony challenged. When Steve blushed, Tony continued, “Face it. I’m handsome. Everyone wants to stare at me.” He leaned across the workbench, deliberately getting up in Steve’s personal space. He looked up at Steve through long lashes and _damn_ , Steve found himself leaning in, too, magnetically attracted to Tony.

Steve cleared his throat and said, “You’re unbelievable.” He meant it to come out incredulously with an undertone of teasing. Instead, it came out low and husky.

“Yeah?” Tony breathed, leaning in further, his nose now inches from Steve’s face.

“Yeah.” Steve took Tony’s cue for what it was and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Tony’s, hot and searing as he ached for more. Tony kissed back fervently and after a second, parted his lips to give Steve access and Steve let his tongue explore the warm, wet cavern of Tony’s mouth.

In the background they heard a loud beeping noise. Startled, Steve broke off their kiss, looking for the source of the noise. When he found it, he saw that it was coming from their communicators, a signal for them to suit up.

Steve looked up and caught Tony’s eyes. Frozen, they stared at each other. Steve was torn between kissing him again and getting up to go retrieve his shield, but in the end, duty called. As he reluctantly got up, he urged Tony “Go on, get suited up. We’ll talk later.”

“Yeah. Later. Okay.”

Steve jogged over to one of the drawers in Tony’s workshop where he kept a spare of his suit and quickly got ready, ducking behind a tall cabinet to do so. In the background he could hear Tony’s suit snapping itself into place. When Steve turned around again, shield in hand, Tony was ready to go. They gave each other a nod and were on their way.

 

The mission was a disaster. An utter, complete disaster. Short of Steve dying, things couldn’t have gotten any worse in Tony’s opinion.

He watched Steve’s SHIELD hospital room through the glass window as Steve slept deeply in his hospital bed and gown. He was drugged up on enough painkillers to take care of a horse, the damage was so severe. Tony waited with baited breath as the SHIELD doctor spoke seriously and gravely to Agent Coulson inside the room, unable to make out what they were saying. Finally, the doctor fell silent and Coulson, who had debriefed Tony just prior to this, dismissed the doctor before walking out and coming up beside Tony.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” said Coulson. “Which one do you want to hear first?” He waited for Tony to answer “Bad news first,” before continuing. “The bad news: Captain Rogers has lung damage from smoke inhalation, second degree burns from the fire, chemical burns from the acid, a broken arm, and the team in surgery extracted two bullets when you brought him in an hour ago. The good news: he’s going to be fine. ”

Tony let out a choked sob he hadn’t known he’d been holding in. Finally, he managed to stammer out, “G-good. That’s good.”

Silence lay between then before Phil put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and said gently, “It wasn’t your fault.”

This time, Tony laughed, a pathetic watery sound as he tried futilely not to cry. “That’s a load of bullshit and you know it. They were my weapons in that warehouse. _My fucking weapons_ in Zemo’s lair. Jesus Christ, every time I think I’ve got them all, every fucking time, they—” Tony broke off, frustrated and angry as he heard his voice rise. He brought his hands up to his face to muffle his shuddered sob. It was hardly effective. “I shouldn’t be on this team. I shouldn’t be on this team if all I’m going to do is get people hurt.”

“We’re not taking you off the team for this,” Phil insisted firmly. Again, he repeated, “It wasn’t your fault.”

Tony chose not to respond that time, keeping his eyes focused on Steve in the other room.

Finally, Phil sighed. “I’ll talk to the nurses and see if I can get you a visit.” He waited for Tony to reply but again, Tony said nothing. Never taking his eyes off Steve, Tony heard Phil’s footfalls fade softly as he walked away.

Five minutes later, Tony sat in a chair at Steve’s bedside. He held Steve’s hand in his, but the injured man didn’t stir. Twenty-four hours ago, things between Tony and Steve had been a much different picture. Tony could remember the taste of Steve’s lips on his, salty and sweet and everything he’d imagined in these past two months leading up to it.

Now, everything had changed and Tony had no illusions about where they stood now. What they had shared only a day ago was impossible now, crushed under the weight of the failed mission where Zemo had tried to blow up the base with Stark Industries explosives, while Steve was still in it, captured and chained inside. He only hoped that Steve would find it in his heart to forgive Tony for his mistake, and trust Tony enough to let him remain on the team.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” he whispered, clutching Steve’s hand. “Please forgive me.”

He didn’t know how long he sat next to Steve’s bedside, he only knew that at some point Pepper came in and somehow convinced him to go home, where he slept fitfully that night.

 

When Steve woke up, he looked around to find that his hospital room was empty of people, although it didn’t stay that way for long. The monitors must have built in some type of alert system—either that or the doctors and nurses were clairvoyant—because not more than two minutes had passed before a gaggle of nurses and a doctor were in to check on him and make sure everything was okay.

Coulson came in next, to explain what, exactly, had happened to him, and the extent of his injuries. Steve nodded through it, dully registering the arm that hung limp on his left side. The conversation left him drained, but Coulson seemed to sense this and excused himself shortly before Steve fell back asleep.

When he woke up again, there were two trays of hospital food on the table next to his bedside. Upon seeing them, Steve’s stomach began to growl. Taking it as a sign, he ate with as much gusto as he could muster, given that he had to maneuver the tray one-handed.

He was almost finished eating when the Avengers arrived, filing into the room one-by-one until they surrounded his bed. First Natasha, followed by Clint, then Thor, then Bruce. He frowned. Where was Tony? Was he okay?

“The doctors are giving us about five minutes before they kick us out again,” Clint opened with. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” Steve misdirected, not wanting to admit how much pain he was in. “I remember... I remember being taken prisoner by Zemo. What happened?”

“Zemo somehow got a hold of some old Stark Industries weapons caches,” Natasha explained. “As soon as he realized he was outnumbered, he tried to blow the place sky-high, with you in the middle. Iron Man got you out. The two of you almost didn’t make it.”

Steve bolted upright. Was that why Tony was missing? Was he also in the hospital, dealing with the aftermath of the explosion. “Where’s Tony? Is he all right?”

“He’s fine,” Bruce told him soothingly, pushing him back down onto the bed. “He was treated for a little smoke inhalation but nothing worse than that. He...” Bruce paused carefully, “couldn’t make it here with us. Something about a Stark Industries meeting and Pepper going to have his hide if he didn’t show.”

“Oh.”

There was an awkward silence before Thor put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “We are relieved that you made it out of your enemy’s base with your life. We wish you well for the speedy recovery from your injuries obtained in battle. I shall look forward to your discharge from this hospital and your return to active leader of our team.”

“I second that,” Clint added. “It’ll be great to have you back at the tower.”

“Agreed,” said Bruce.

“Also agreed,” Natasha said with a hint of a smile, even though her arms were still crossed.

Just then, the automatic doors to the room slid open and the nurse returned, hands on her hips with a menacing look. “Visiting time is over. Out, all of you! Captain Rogers needs all the rest he can get.”

Steve was disappointed to see his friends go, but perhaps the nurse was right. He had just finished lunch and he was feeling a little sleepy. Maybe if he closed his eyes for just a minute...

 

The Avengers continued to visit Steve over the next few days, though they didn’t come again as a group, instead trading shifts and visiting when they could. The only one who was conspicuously absent in all of this was Tony.

Steve asked after him numerous times, but was always given an excuse of “He’s in an important meeting,” or “He’s working on a time sensitive-project in the lab,” or “He’s being chewed out by Fury/Hill/Coulson.” Eventually, he stopped asking, resigned to the idea that Tony wasn’t coming.

At first, Steve wondered if Tony’s lack of hospital visits was because of the kiss before this last mission. He replayed the scene over and over again in his mind, wondering if there was some hesitation, some uncertainty, some sign that his advances had actually been unwanted and Tony was just too polite to say so. But no matter how hard he tried, that version didn’t match up. Tony didn’t seem hesitant about it at all, and he’d even leaned _in_ to the kiss. The only logical explanation Steve could think of was that Tony had changed his mind since then.

What could have changed Tony’s mind? The only thing that could have happened was—oh. Right. Steve had stupidly led Iron Man into a trap laid by Baron Zemo. He’d done it unknowingly, of course, but that didn’t excuse the fact that he’d put Tony in as much danger, if not more danger, than himself. Steve had the Super Soldier Serum to ensure that he healed rapidly, but it was probably only because of the Iron Man suit that Tony had made it out alive. The idea that Tony might _not_ have made it out otherwise was enough to make Steve feel sick. Tony was probably mad at him. Heck, Steve was mad at himself! No wonder Tony didn’t want to see him right now.

He knew, then, that the hope of anything romantic happening between them was long gone, destroyed by his inability to take care of Tony and his team in battle. Steve could only hope that Tony would at least stay on as a member of the Avengers, even if he couldn’t forgive Steve for what he’d done. Steve didn’t know how he would cope if Tony packed up his bags and left entirely.

For the next three days while he was still confined to SHIELD’s medical wing, Steve was restless and antsy. When he wasn’t sleeping or filling out paperwork or reading a book to keep him occupied, he thought about what he was going to say to convince Tony to stay on the team.

Although his left arm would take another two weeks to heal up completely, the burns and the bullet wounds had already healed up quite nicely. Four days after the Avengers’ last mission, Steve was declared healthy enough to be checked out of the hospital. He mentally prepared himself to talk with Tony when he got back to the tower, to apologize and put any awkwardness behind them, and to hopefully convince Tony to stay on with the Avengers. He just hoped it would work.

 

With Steve was still in SHIELD’s medical wing, Tony hid out in his workshop for as long as he could. He spent his time working on a new prototype for Cap’s uniform, one that was more flame-retardant than the last. He also spent his time reviewing the shipment logs of Stark Industries’ weapons that had been signed by Obadiah and subsequently sold to terrorists around the world. The list was extensively cultivated from previous attempts to retrieve (or blow up) the stray shipments, but not all of the weapons’ shipments were accounted for. Tony now put renewed energy into tracking down some of the dead-ends he’d previously come up against, determined to get them all back if it was the last thing he did.

Each of the Avengers had visited Tony at one point or another to ask if he wanted to come along to visit Steve, but Tony declined each time. Steve wouldn’t want to see the guy who had almost got him killed, that was for sure. And despite their heated kiss before the mission, Tony wasn’t stupid enough to believe he still had a chance with Steve Rogers. He’d be lucky if Steve forgave him at all for what happened on the mission, let alone allow him to remain on the Avengers’ team.

“Just come for five minutes, Tony,” Bruce said, trying to convince him to go. “He’s been asking after you.”

“He has?” Tony looked up at that. What reason could Steve have for wanting to see Tony when he was still in SHIELD’s medical care. Was he that eager to get rid of Tony that he didn’t want to wait until he was released to do it? Tony panicked and declined Bruce’s offer vehemently. “I need some time alone, Bruce.” He needed some time to come up with a reason for Cap not to throw him off the team. “I can’t go. Just...” he broke off, shaking his head. Tell Steve I’m sorry? That I didn’t mean to put him in harm’s way? That I can do better as Iron Man? It wasn’t fair to make Bruce the messenger. “Have a good visit. I’ll see you when you get back.”

This pattern continued with the other Avengers, who made their disappointment in him quite evident, but Tony couldn’t be bothered. He was more disappointed in himself than all of the other Avengers combined, and he was busy preparing himself for the inevitable talk that was coming from Steve, once he was released from the hospital.

On that day, Tony went to every meeting Pepper had scheduled for him (and even showed up _early_ for them), in a futile effort to stave off the inevitable. In the end, though, Steve came to his workshop late at night, when Tony had been so sure the rest of Stark Tower’s inhabitants were asleep.

Naturally, Steve tried using his passcode to open the door first. When he discovered that the lock was still firmly engaged, he politely knocked on the glass, requesting of him, “Tony. We need to talk. Will you let me in, please?”

Tony was tempted to ignore Steve entirely, but the rational, adult side of him knew Steve would corner him outside of his workshop eventually, and they’d end up talking at some point.

“What do you think, J? Should I let him in?”

“I believe it would be most advisable to allow Captain Rogers entry, Sir,” JARVIS answered.

“Oh, _fine_ ,” Tony conceded with a great sigh. “Open the door for him, please, JARVIS.”

The lock disengaged with a loud _snick_ and Steve entered the workshop. Tony noticed that his left arm was held in a sling, and a cast had been placed over it. He winced internally, upset to see the consequences of his screw-up taken out on Steve. Gingerly, Steve lowered himself onto a stool and gestured for Tony to do the same.

Tony waited with baited breath for Steve to say what he had come to say, stuck between wanting Steve to get it over with and never wanting him to start.

“How are you doing?” Tony preempted him, gesturing toward the arm.

“Good. The doc says that it should heal in three weeks, because of the serum.”

Tony nodded. “And the burns? The, ah, bullet wounds?”

“All healed as of this morning. So are my lungs from the smoke. Again—”

“Serum.” Tony didn’t know what else to say, trying to skirt the real issue at hand, and the room fell silent.

It seemed even Steve was having trouble with his words as he opened and closed his mouth several times. Finally, he began with an abrupt change in topic, “I think we can all agree our last mission was a total disaster. I haven’t seen you at all since we got back and I know you must be upset but I came to ask that you please not leave the team over what happened.”

Tony was so shocked and confused he didn’t even bother hiding it on his face. “What?”

“We need Iron Man. We need you, Tony. _Please._ ”

There was a note of desperation in his voice and Tony couldn’t understand why it was there. He’d give _anything_ to stay on with the team and Steve was practically handing it to him on a silver platter. He wasn’t going to say no, but there was just one thing he didn’t understand. “Why?”

Apparently Steve had anticipated this question because he launched into what sounded like a fully prepared speech. “Because the Avengers need Tony Stark. The team wouldn’t be the same without Iron Man to take care of the explosive tech and the flying and everything else your suit can do in a fight, but the team wouldn’t be the same without _Tony_ , teammate and friend to us. Look, I know that I screwed up big time. It was _Zemo_ , and I went into that fight, guns blazing, without sufficiently assessing the risk to you guys. I put my team in danger; I put _you_ in danger, and I don’t expect you to forgive me but for the others’ sake, I hope you’ll consider staying on with the team and I—”

“Wait. Wait wait wait,” Tony interrupted, holding up a hand to forestall Steve. He was very confused and he needed some clarification. “ _You_ think you put _me_ in danger? Did you _read_ the mission report?” His eyes widened and he needed Cap to know the truth before he made any more offers of letting Tony back on the team. “You are the last person who should be apologizing to me, Steve. _I_ should be apologizing to _you_! I mean, I am. Apologizing. This is me, apologizing to you. You do know they were _my_ weapons that Zemo had a hold of. Grade A Stark Industries weapons shipments in the secret lair of a Nazi, right?”

Steve frowned. “Yes, of course. Coulson noted that in the mission report. But I don’t see how that—” Steve broke off and apparently he had reached a very important epiphany because his eyes went wide as he sucked in a gasp and said, “ _Tony_ , _Tony_. Jeeze. Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? You thought that I would blame you for what happened to me in there?”

“Well, yeah,” Tony mumbled. “They’re my weapons. I put everyone in danger. I can understand if you don’t want me on the team anymore.”

“You stopped making weapons a long time ago, Tony. You don’t think I know that?”

“It doesn’t _matter_ , Steve! They’re still out there! There are so many Obadiah sold under the table that are _still out there_ and I haven’t been able to track them all down yet!” By the end, Tony was shouting, beginning to fill with anger again from just thinking about those shipments.

Steve seemed to sense his distress, and after a brief moment of hesitation, put his hands on Tony’s shoulders to soothe and steady him. “You said _Obadiah_ sold them, and you said you haven’t tracked them down _yet_.” When Tony opened his mouth to argue, Steve cut him off. “Even though you feel responsible for designing them, you are more than making up for things by personally going out of your way to track all of the shipments Obadiah sold. And that’s just it. You did _not_ sell those weapons to terrorists, and nobody blames you for what happened. Not the team, not Coulson, not Fury, and not me. You need to stop putting the blame on yourself, Tony.”

Tony hesitated, unsure of how to answer that.

Steve went on, “Please say you’ll stay on the team.” He hesitated and added in a small voice, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

From the looks of things, they had both come to the wrong conclusions after the mission with Zemo, about the team and, Tony hoped, about what they meant to each other. He managed a trademark smirk and replied, “Well then in that case, I guess I’ll have to.”

Steve smiled back. After a brief period of silence he said, “You know, uh, while I was in the hospital, I thought that you were avoiding me because you were angry I put you in danger—”

“—That’s not even _close_ to it, Steve.”

“I get that now, but at the time I thought...” he trailed off nervously, “and then I thought if you were angry that you’d changed your mind about the kiss before the mission too... but, uh, since the first part isn’t true, I just wanted to know, uh...”

Oh. _Oh._ Was that what Steve was worried about? It was funny that Tony had been having similar doubts over the past four days, and in the end, their feelings for each other were the same after all. Tony cut him off with a rough kiss and pulled away. “Does that answer your question?”

Steve stared at him like a deer in the headlights and Tony was starting to think he’d done the wrong thing when Steve finally replied, “Yeah. Yeah it does. And, ah, can we promise to not avoid each other if something like this happens, so that we don’t come to the wrong conclusions?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” Steve grinned and wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist, pulling him in close. “Now, where were we?” he asked in a low, sultry voice, but he didn’t give Tony time to answer. They both leaned in for a deep, fervent kiss. And with the lack of alarm bells, it was even sweeter than their first.

 _Fin_.


End file.
